After the multiple lockdowns, clients were asking how to fix dreadlocks that

are thinning in the middle.  It is crazy the epic damage to dreadlocks these lockdowns caused.  Clients come apologizing for letting their hair go; but what could they have done?  Those that were handy did their best.  If you were not one of them, don’t worry this is not your calling.

When I started repairing dreadlocks, I would use the knot method to close the thinning section.

  I have changed that theory.  If I am asked how to fix dreadlocks that are thinning at the root, there are two ways:

1. Knotting method:  if the space is close enough so the knot falls directly in the middle to close the gap.
2. Sewing method:  I use this method if the area that has thinned is wide.  I run my needle with the thread from the bottom, taking the needle out one side without cutting the thread.  I will then pass the needle back in the lock and go to the top part of the dread.  Once again I will push the needle out one side while pulling up the bottom of the dread.  When both parts come together, I do the same thing two more times to make it secure.  I detail how I repair dreadlocks in my book, “Dreadlocks, A Hairstylist’s Manifest”.

I began using the second method when I  had clients with larger thinning areas.  There are only so many knots you can do.  After making 2 or more, the dreads start thinning between them over time and then you have to repair those!  The space you need to close will decide what method you will use, if you want to know how to fix dreadlocks that are thinning in the middle

By Paula Barker, Silkie Locks Hair Design